The Virgin's groove history. Canal of the Most Holy Theotokos in Diveevo: rules and prayer

In the last article we talked, and today we’ll talk in more detail about prayer.

How to pray on Kanavka correctly?

In general, the word “right” is not entirely appropriate. On the one hand, there are some recommendations, on the other hand, prayer is a special state. And it manifests itself differently in each person.

First of all, we must remember that the Groove of the Mother of God is. Accordingly, one should behave here reverently, or with respect, regardless of religious beliefs. Do not disturb those praying, do not talk. For women, there is one more nuance: just like, Kanavka should not be visited during menstruation.

The groove should be walked with prayer. Usually they read the prayer “O Theotokos, Virgin, Rejoice” 150 times. And people often ask the question, how long does the prayer rule on Kanavka take?

It is impossible to answer this question unequivocally, and there is no time frame. The fact is that our individual rhythm of life is also manifested in prayer. There are slow people, they walk along the Kanavka like turtles, and sometimes they do not have time to fully read the prescribed prayers. And dynamic people pray completely sincerely, but at the same time they do not notice how, it turns out, they have already read everything, and they stand at the end of the Kanavka with a feeling of prayerful fulfillment. One spiritual person was once asked whether it is worth consciously slowing down when you pray. To which he replied: “God created each person with his own temperament, and the fast cannot be slowed down, and the slow cannot be rushed.”

This is an important point, because you can hear opinions that you must walk slowly along the Kanavka. This is not entirely true. Of course, you shouldn’t run here, but you can read the prayer and walk at your usual pace.

Serious prayer on the Kanavka

Everyone knows the old proverb “Thunder will not strike, a man will not cross himself.” Alas, it so often happens in life that we turn to God when we have exhausted all material resources. Or when the size of trouble or need seems overwhelming to a person.

Many at such a moment turn to God, are ready to take on special prayer rules, observe fasts, and perform obediences. One of these prayer rules is reading akathists. And those who are not knowledgeable, coming to Diveevo, ask whether akathists are read on the Holy Kanavka?

Of course, if you decide to read an akathist on Kanavka, no one will forbid you from doing so, but there is no such practice here. In the monastery they try to fulfill the rule of the Mother of God, commanded. But if you have a serious need, you may be advised to go through the Holy Groove three times in a row. Each circle, walking with reverence and reading the prayer “Virgin, Mother of God, Rejoice” 150 times, at the end ask for what you need. Going to prayer so many times can seem like a difficult task, especially if you are not used to it. But, according to people who received God’s help precisely after such a small “feat,” special circumstances require strong prayer.

Night prayer on the Kanavka of the Most Holy Theotokos

There is another type of prayer - night prayer. It is connected with the legend that it runs along its Kanavka.

It is not surprising that many believers, including pilgrims, having learned about this, strive to walk along the Kanavka with prayer at night. Someone, seeing the kilometer-long monastery fences, inside of which the Kanavka is also included, and remembering that the monastery is closed at night, will be surprised. Yes, indeed, the monastery’s opening hours are limited - from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. at night, after which all the gates are closed. But! Everyone in the monastery knows about this legend, and there is a blessing to let people into Kanavka even at night.

Once you say your cherished word to the guard at the gate that you want to pray on Kanavka at night, they will let you through. But only there! So don’t tempt fate and try to get somewhere else in the dark. Monastics also need rest, like all other people.

At night on Kanavka they also read the Mother of God rule. Or they simply pray in their own words.

What happens if you walk along the Kanavka in Diveevo?

Let's try to summarize.

First of all, it's not worth it. Prayer is communication with God, and the result is not always some kind of reward. After all, we communicate with our parents not for the sake of being given something, although, alas, this also happens. Likewise, God and the Mother of God should be approached with gratitude and reverence with filial feelings.
Secondly, if you pray sincerely, you will still receive a reward. This is a feeling of special grace, quiet and bright, which settles in the soul for some time.
Thirdly, prayer on the Canal of the Virgin Mary is powerful, especially if you pray especially at night, or walk this path with prayer three times. There are many recorded and orally transmitted miracles when, after intense prayer on the Kanavka, healings and successful outcomes of serious matters occurred.
And fourthly. You can read the Mother of God rule at home every day. Wherever you live, in Diveevo, or in another city, the prayer “Rejoice, Virgin Mary”, read 150 times, will connect you with invisible threads to Diveevo and the Kanavka of the Most Holy Theotokos.

Tatyana Strakhova

January 25th, 2012

The Mother of God took four places on Earth under her special protection. These are her earthly inheritances, earthly lots. The first inheritance of the Mother of God is Iveria (modern Georgia), the second is Athos, the third is the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, the fourth (the last where the Mother of God appeared) is Diveevo (Seraphim-Diveevo Monastery). Nikolai Aleksandrovich Motovilov, a nobleman and benefactor of the Diveevo monastery (as he called himself “Servant of the Mother of God and the Seraphim”) wrote to Emperor Nicholas the First: “Her blessing for all four places is that She promised to be personally in each of these places - and not a single one of their inhabitants will be allowed to perish."

About the ditch of the Diveyevo Monastery, one of the most revered Russian saints, Father Seraphim of Sarov, said that whoever walks the Ditch of the Most Holy Theotokos and reads “Virgin Mother of God, rejoice...” 150 times will visit Kiev, Jerusalem and Athos. “If you are sad (bad), then take a rosary and walk along the groove, read these prayers and Mother Theotokos will definitely give you joy and consolation. And your heart will become light.” You will receive consolation, guidance, protection.

This is actually true! I know for sure! In Diveevo, the human soul and spiritual vision are purified! And you can get answers to the questions tormenting your soul...

The photo shows the beginning of the Canal, dug by the nuns, along which thousands of pilgrims walk every day to pray. This is the prayer:

"Virgin Mother of God, rejoice ,
Blessed Mary, the Lord is with you,
Blessed are You among women
and blessed is the fruit of Your womb,
for you gave birth to the Savior of our souls!”
It is believed that you can continue the groove with this prayer to the place where you live.

100 meters before the end of the Kanavka. in winter

This is the most amazing of the existing borders, the construction of which was blessed by Father Seraphim of Sarov for the construction of the Diveyevo maidens-nuns, because The Mother of God walked along this path in her footsteps. The ditch of the Most Holy Theotokos, according to the teachings of Father Seraphim, should have looked like this: 3 arshins deep, 3 arshins wide, and the shaft should have been filled with 3 arshins. And Father said that beyond this 800-meter border the last stronghold of Orthodoxy will rise, it will rise at the end of time. The time will come such that the angels will not have time to receive souls, and the Lord will save you all. When the Antichrist begins to destroy all monasteries and churches and throw crosses to the ground. He will approach Diveevo, and the ditch will rise from the ground to heaven and he will not be able to cross it. He will stand, stand and go away. The groove of the Antichrist will not allow it.

They dug a ditch in 1829 - 30. A few years ago it was restored with the help of specialists from the Moscow Construction University. They were looking for where she had been before. But the nuns dug it anyway, so Father blessed it. Virginity is a virtue that reaches to heaven, just like prayer. After all, “take the wings from an angel and there will be a virgin.” And vice versa. Give the maiden wings and she will be an angel.”

About the groove of the Queen of Heaven, Seraphim of Sarov said: “If the groove is reborn, Russia will be resurrected.”

In cold weather, mothers warm themselves with gray down scarves (my grandmother had exactly the same one)) and walk with rosary beads in hand, reading prayers. They go one at a time and procession once a day. Pilgrims line up behind them and help hold up the shield of Russia with their prayers.

While making the Procession of the Cross, the nuns walk along a groove with the Icon of Tenderness. The Icon of Tenderness was the favorite icon of Seraphim of Sarov. He even went to the Lord, praying in front of this icon.
The Icon of Tenderness is located in the right border of the Trinity Church, it is all hung with jewelry donated by different people, as a sign of gratitude to the Mother of God for help and healing.

Diveevo is the fourth destiny of the Mother of God. Mother Alexandra, the pious widow Agafya Semyonovna Melgunova, founded a monastery here. She had a vision at this place. The Mother of God appeared and said to stay here, in Diveevo, where the most ancient last inheritance of the Mother of God, valued by the monks, is located.

Before the death of Mother Alexandra, a young hierodeacon Seraphim appeared in Diveevo and promised not to leave the sisters under his spiritual care. But before this promise was fulfilled, he went into seclusion for many years, where he lived in a cell on a hill that he called Athos. After this, Seraphim of Sarov became perspicacious and predicted many things that are still coming true.

In December 1927, all the nuns of the monastery were dispersed, many were sent to camps. Father foresaw this too. He said that my orphans would pour into the Christmas gates like peas...

All the icons were removed in the Temples, the Cross with the crucified Christ was very large, they could not bear it, they decided to saw off the Savior’s handle, along with part of the cross. They started, but quickly stopped. There was blood oozing out from the place where the cut was made, and they were scared. In the morning, those who came actually found congealed blood under the cross... In one of the Temples they set up a cinema in which they showed anti-religious films. The ditch was filled with waste, a sewer system was built through it, a school was built in the area around the ditch, and much more. But time passed and Father Seraphim’s predictions continued to come true. He said: “Then it will be a miracle in Diveevo when the poor Seraphim lies down in Sarov and transfers his flesh to Diveevo.” And finally, in 1991, the saint’s relics were transferred from St. Petersburg (where they ended up after the revolution) to Diveevo. Before his death, the priest gave the sisters a candle and said that they should meet him with this candle when he returned to their monastery. And so it happened. The nuns kept this candle, passed it on to each other, carried it through all the years of wanderings, and the relics of the priest were met by the last surviving pre-revolutionary nun with this candle in her hands. In Diveevo there are also the personal belongings of Father Seraphim, his hoe, with which he cultivated the land and with which he healed people. When he was asked to heal, he would lightly hit the sore spot with a hoe and healing would occur. Nowadays it is occasionally done by the nuns of the monastery as a hoe. They sometimes open the priest’s things before the church closes and treat those who are suffering, whoever is lucky. Of the 6 trips we made to Diveevo, we were lucky twice and the mothers treated their backs with a hoe the first time, and their heads the second time)). Father Seraphim helped) By his will, they accepted treatment from his spiritual daughters) We found ourselves in exactly the place and at the moment when the mothers took the hoe)

Diveyevo is a crystalline place, prayed for. It's very beautiful here at Christmas.

The Emperor Nicholas II, the royal martyr of our country, was also here with his family.

Elder Seraphim spoke these words. “The king who glorifies me, him I will glorify.” And the glorification of Seraphim of Sarov (canonization) took place in 1903. Emperor Nicholas II insisted on this, because many miracles were performed through prayers at the grave of the Elder... Sometimes the Lord speaks in the language of miracles.
The Synod had doubts. Yes, there were healings, but only bones remained from Father. There are no incorruptible relics left... The Athonite elders say in such cases that only a Saint can see the holiness of another!

After the priest was canonized, Nicholas II himself went on a religious procession from Diveevo to Sarov. In July, “they sang Easter in the middle of summer”!!! And Elder Sasha of Sarov, now canonized as a Saint, then predicted the birth of an heir to our Emperor. A year later, Tsarevich Alexei was born) In honor of Alexei’s birth, the nuns planted a larch tree near the ditch. This tree turned out to be extraordinary. Sometimes it suddenly begins to smell so fragrant that the smell can be heard far from it. Another peculiarity of this larch is that its resin is red. The tree is crying tears of blood. And it stands in brown spots, as if there was congealed blood on it. The people associate this with the tragic fate of Alexei and the entire royal family. The tree is fenced, on it are icons of the Tsar, Alexei, next to prayers.

In the year the royal family was canonized, the nuns planted 7 more small larches nearby.

Many of Father Seraphim’s predictions have not yet been solved. For example, the elder’s speech about the ascension of the Kazan Temple, where the relics of the most revered sisters now rest - the nuns of Diveyevo, canonized. Father said that when the Antichrist approaches this Temple, the Temple will ascend, along with everyone who will be in it. It will rise into the air. Those who are worthy will enter there and remain, while those who are unworthy will enter there, but will fall from there. The Antichrist will never be able to get you from there. This will be the New Small Ark of Salvation for the small flock. Strange words, difficult to understand...

It is believed that through the living communication that you feel here, with the Mother of God and Father Seraphim of Sarov, you can gain faith - a gift of God...

There are many interesting things to see on the territory of the monastery. For example, a birch tree with the face of a bear that was tamed by a saint. They tried to uproot this tree after the revolution, but only broke the tooth of the excavator, which still sticks out there, but they could not do anything to this tree. It has its own spirit, aura, the heavenly Mother Superior rules here - the Mother of God.

Happy is the one who stays in Diveevo for a day, because... Once a day the Queen of Heaven herself passes here. This is where the prayer of the Russian people takes place. Every day, an endless stream of people walking the path of the Mother of God along the ditch dug by the nuns creates a prayer SHIELD of our EARTH! Tearful repentance on the groove cleanses the heart, even filled to the brim with sins.

Many people go to Diveevo to work, think about their lives, contribute to the restoration of the monastery, some make donations according to their capabilities, and others pray for the monastery and its nuns. And the monastery becomes more and more beautiful every year.

The source of Seraphim of Sarov, which we visited for the first time in 2007 at 6 am, before entering Diveevo. To cleanse ourselves, as our wonderful escort said. This source is located in the village of Tsyganovka, in the Sarov Forest. But the source was classified as a group of Diveyevo sources, because he miraculously appeared on the border of the closed zone. A lot of things connected with the Reverend are located in Sarov. But for reasons known to all of us (in order not to give away state secrets, I will not write them;) the city was closed during the Soviet Union and is still

The water in it is cold! It's absolutely breathtaking. And gracious. Here is the story of the source of Father Seraphim. This happened in the 60s of the 20th century, on the banks of the Satis River. The soldiers serving on the border of the protected zone saw an old man in a white robe. To the question: “Grandfather, what are you doing here?” - the elder did not answer them, he just hit the ground with his staff three times and left. Springs appeared in three places. So the Reverend moved his source from Sarov to a place where people could visit him... The elder himself often healed people with water from his source and crackers he prepared in a cast iron pot. By the way, about the crackers... This tradition was continued by the mothers of the Seraphim-Diveevsky Monastery

Source this winter. In general, there are many holy springs near Diveevo. In addition to the source of Father Seraphim, there is: the source of Mother Alexandra, Panteleimon the Healer, the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God, the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, the Icon of Tenderness..

A cat living next to the Father Seraphim spring. The most beautiful blue and cream turtle!!! I had just squatted down to take a picture of this charmer when she rushed towards me and climbed into my arms! She is not alone at the Source. Cats live on the mercy of people who come to the spring and feed them. And the kittens born by the local pussies can be taken away as a gift from Father Seraphim)...

The road home...
Most often we go Diveevo through Murom, visiting Peter and Fevronya, and sometimes visiting Ilya Muromets. And back through Arzamas . Wonderful places of the Russian land!

This year we learned news in Murom that alarmed the city residents. They are going to build a nuclear power plant there... And no public rallies have helped yet...

The information used about Diveevo was obtained from the Orthodox guide accompanying the pilgrimage groups, Larisa Nikolaevna Solovyova, and from the “Russian House” program from the collection of the best programs “Diveevo - the Fourth Destiny of the Blessed Virgin Mary.”

I would like to express my special heartfelt gratitude to Larisa Nikolaevna! Diveevo was my husband and I’s first pilgrimage trip in 2007 (photos were taken from 2007 to 2012). It was very important which escort would be nearby. And we got the best one! Soulful, sincere, loving Diveevo with all her heart! The next time, in the winter, when we arrived in Diveevo on our own, in the evening, in the Trinity Church, before closing, at Father Seraphim’s things, we met for the second time our guardian angel Larisa Nikolaevna, who told us not to leave, that they would open the things now. Then, another year later, we met her, having arrived at our Svetochka, the owner of the house on Arzomasskaya, where we now stay every year. (You can also tell a lot about Svetlana! A person with an amazing soul! Bright!) This time Larisa Nikolaevna also stayed with Svetlana, along with a girl from Serbia, who was making a pilgrimage to the Holy Places of Russia. We talked with them until the night... Every meeting and conversation with Sveta and Larisa Nikolaevna brings a lot of new, interesting and bright things. Talk to such people that you can drink spring water! God bless you, our dears!

The saint said about the Kazan Cathedral of the monastery that at the end of the world “this church will be taken entirely to heaven.” About another cathedral - Trinity - he predicted that “the poor Seraphim will rest here in body.” “The elder’s contemporaries were very surprised by these words of his: “Are the Sarov people going to give you up?” After all, the elder labored in a monastery in Sarov, which is 20 km from Diveevo, and the sisters went there for advice,” says AiF. Abbess Sergia (Konkova), abbess of the Holy Trinity Seraphim-Diveevsky Monastery.

It happened as the great elder predicted, although immediately after his glorification as a saint in 1903, his relics were first located in Sarov. After the revolution and the closure of the monastery, they were thought to have disappeared, but were miraculously found in 1990 in Leningrad in the storerooms of the Museum of Religion and Atheism. Sarov by that time had turned into the nuclear center of the country, a closed city, which could only be reached through a military checkpoint. Therefore, the relics of the saint, having passed through half the country in a religious procession, rested in Diveevo, in the Trinity Cathedral.

Cancer with the relics of St. Seraphim of Sarov. Photo: From the monastery archive

Elder's Candle

Among the sea of people who greeted the relics of Seraphim of Sarov in 1991 in the newly opened monastery, there was a 91-year-old schema-nun Margarita (Lakhtionova). Before the revolution, she came to the Diveyevo monastery at the age of 15, becoming a novice. In 1927, after the monastery was dispersed by the Bolsheviks, the nuns, and there were more than a thousand of them, went into the world.

Most of the nuns went through prisons and camps, but did not renounce their faith and monastic vows. Thus, Mother Margarita spent almost 10 years in the camps. Having returned, she settled in Diveevo not far from the ruined monastery. It was she who kept Elder Seraphim’s candle, which he gave to the sisters shortly before his death in 1833 with the words: “You will meet me with it in Diveyevo.” For more than 150 years, the candle was passed from one generation of nuns to another. And so in 1991, Mother Margarita, being a very old woman, came to meet the relics of St. Seraphim with that same candle - she handed it over to the Diveyevo protodeacon, who inserted it into a candlestick and lit it.

One of the shrines of the monastery is the miraculous icon of the Mother of God “Tenderness”. Photo: From the monastery archive

After 1991, another prediction of the great elder began to come true: that as soon as his relics were laid to rest in Diveevo, the monastery would begin to flourish with renewed vigor and over time would turn into a monastery, that is, the largest monastery in terms of territory and number of inhabitants. “Father Seraphim predicted that the territory of the monastery would stretch to the river,” says Mother Sergia. - Maybe this will not happen in our lifetime. But we are already thinking about where we could move the organizations that are located on this territory - the prosecutor’s office, the police department building, two administration buildings and others.” However, over the previous 25 years, it was necessary to relocate a much larger number of organizations that had once occupied the premises and churches of the monastery, and also to remove sewer pipes from the moat of the Holy Kanavka.

“In those years, this required 5 thousand dollars,” recalls Mother Abbess. - There was no money. And suddenly a stranger comes and donates exactly this amount.”

Kazan Temple, which will be ascended to heaven. Photo: From the monastery archive

Miracles on the Groove

The construction of the Holy Canal began during the life of St. Seraphim, who was ordered to do this by the Queen of Heaven Herself. The Mother of God appeared to the elder 12 times. “I did not place a single stone in the monastery of my own free will, only on the instructions of the Queen of Heaven,” the priest said and ordered that the width of the Kanavka should be 3 arshins (1 arshin - 71 cm), the depth of the ditch should also be 3 arshins, and the earth, which is dug up must be thrown inside the monastery, so that the height of the ditch also becomes 3 arshins. “This land will be valued like gold,” the elder predicted, explaining this by the fact that the Mother of God passes along the Kanavka every day, who took Diveevo to Her fourth Destiny (after Athos, Iberia and Kyiv. - Ed.).

He said to his sisters: “If you knew what kind of Kanavka this is, it’s a fence to the skies! When the century ends, the Antichrist will first begin to remove crosses from churches and destroy monasteries and destroy all monasteries! But he will come up to yours, and Kanavka will stand from earth to sky, he cannot come to you, Kanavka will not allow him anywhere, so he will go away.”

Pilgrims take the earth from Kanavka with them and apply it to sore spots, receiving healing. “Whoever walks through the Kanavka and says to himself the prayer “Rejoice to the Virgin Mary” 150 times, Athos, Jerusalem, and Kyiv will be here,” said St. Seraphim.

In the revived Kanavka monastery they arranged it exactly as Elder Seraphim had ordered. Photo: From the monastery archive

"We didn't ask for anything"

Many pilgrims also visit the monastery’s hermitages, of which more than twenty have been built since 1991. “We didn't ask for anything. “The Lord Himself gave everything into our hands,” says Mother Superior and gives just one example. — In the early 90s. the head of one of the rural administrations said that they have two grandmothers who are asking me to come. Two sisters, two old maids, Catherine And Anastasia. When we meet, they say to me: “Mother, how we waited for you, how we prayed to St. Seraphim!” And they show off their wealth - a large portrait of an old man on canvas, pre-revolutionary. They also had other treasures - 10 pairs of felt boots “farewell to youth”, 10 pairs of stockings and 5 thousand rubles saved from retirement. “We will give it all up, just take our church for restoration!” And there is a stone temple without windows, without a roof, as if after a bombing, birds fly inside. And the grandmothers keep asking: “Our village Avtodeevo is consonant with Diveevo.”

The Patriarch came to us Alexy II, they took him to look at this temple for its broken bricks and bird droppings... And a year later, His Holiness was already standing here on the pulpit. There was cleanliness and order all around. One of the grandmothers, Catherine, had a funeral service in this church, and the second, Anastasia, became a monk and lived out her life with us.” A special history is connected with the monastery cemetery. “Even 10 years ago it was an open field, but now a wooden church has been built there, a park has been laid out, and a pond with goldfish has been built. All this was done through the efforts of our benefactor. Vyacheslav. He himself is a very religious person. And his main concern was to bring his father to faith. Through Vyacheslav’s prayers, the father repented and took communion before his death, and died reconciled with God. His grave was one of the first in the monastery cemetery. On his father’s memorable days (birth, death and angel day), Vyacheslav always comes to his grave, attends the service, reads the Psalter for the deceased - and this is 6 hours of continuous reading. He has such a charge of firmness of faith that I sometimes cite him as an example to my sisters.”

Work on the restoration and arrangement of the Holy Canal. Photo: From the monastery archive

Holy springs

Most pilgrims always visit holy springs, of which there are more than ten in Diveevo and the surrounding area. They dip with a prayer for healing. Many are recovering. “For some people, recovering quickly is beneficial, but for others it is not. The Lord Himself sees what a person needs,” says Mother Abbess. By the way, she herself worked as a doctor for more than 10 years before her tonsure, although from her youth she knew that her path was different - monastic. Mother was raised by believing parents, the family lived in Sergiev Posad, and went to services at the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. The family of the future abbess turned to the local elders for advice more than once.

“When I turned 20, my mother took me to Archimandrite Seraphim (Shinkarev) and said that she now wants to know how I will be arranged,” says Mother Sergia. “The elder said: “She will be a nun.” At this time I was a medical student. My mother objected: “Father, this is boring.” And the elder: “I’m not bored, and she won’t be bored!” In her youth, my mother regretted that their family consisted of only four people (mother has a sister): “And now my family is hundreds of times larger, we have more than five hundred sisters in the monastery. The abbess of our monastery is the Queen of Heaven Herself, and our main trustee is St. Seraphim. And this is not an exaggeration. The presence of the Mother of God is felt by everyone who crosses the threshold of the monastery, everyone who walks along the Kanavka. And those who venerate the shrine with the relics of the saint never leave inconsolable. The words of the elder come true: “Come to me as if I were alive, and I will help you.”

Procession of the Cross on the Holy Kanavka. Photo: From the monastery archive

The Holy Kanavka is one of the main shrines of the monastery. In 1825, the Mother of God appeared to St. Seraphim and commanded the founding of the Mill Community, indicating how this place should be surrounded by a ditch and a rampart.

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I have been wanting to go to Diveevo, or, as it is often called, Divnoe Diveevo, for a long time. But somehow things didn’t work out. And so when my work colleague suggested that I go there, I didn’t think twice about it. Of course! Moreover, many talked about what wonderful changes happened to them after visiting this monastery. The trip to Diveevo took place in May 2013, during the big one.

The village of Diveevo is located 180 km from and 65 km from, almost on the border with Mordovia. It arose in 1559. According to one legend, its first owner was Murza Divey, from whom the name came. Ivan the Terrible, for his special services, granted Diveya a princely title and awarded him lands.

Diveevo turned out to be at the intersection of pilgrimage roads. In the second half of the 18th century, a wooden church was built here in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and Archdeacon Stephen. Pilgrims and wanderers found shelter and shelter in it. In the 1760s, the wanderer Agafya Semenovna Melgunova (late 1720/early 1730 - 1789), née Belokopytova, the widow of a wealthy Vladimir landowner, came here. After the death of her husband, she took monastic vows under the name of Alexandra. She became the founder of the Diveevo monastery.

With her own funds, she founded a temple in the name of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God with two chapels - St. Nicholas and the First Martyr Archdeacon Stephen. Venerable Seraphim of Sarov predicted:

The Kazan Church, my joy, this will be a temple like no other! At the end of the world, the whole earth will burn, my joy, and nothing will remain. Only three churches from all over the world will be taken completely undestroyed to heaven: one in the Kyiv Lavra, the other ... (forgotten by the sisters), and the third is yours in Kazan, mother. Wow, what a Kazan church you have!

In 1788, construction began on lands donated by the local landowner Zhdanova, near the Kazan Church. Mother Alexandra and four novices settled here. They were called the Kazan community and lived according to the strict Sarov charter. Also, with the blessing of Seraphim of Sarov, the Mill Community was established in 1826.

In 1842, both communities were united and became known as Serafimo-Diveevskaya. In 1861, the community received the status of a monastery, the first abbess of which was Mother Maria (Elizaveta Alekseevna Ushakova). In 1848, according to the design of architect A.I. Rezanov, construction began on the Trinity Cathedral, consecrated on July 28 (August 9), 1875.

By 1917, 270 nuns and 1,474 novices lived in the Seraphim-Diveevo Monastery. After the revolution, difficult times came for the monastery, like other churches and monasteries throughout Russia. In 1919, a labor artel was registered on the basis of the monastery, and in 1927 the monastery was closed. In 1937, the Kazan Church was closed.

Since 1988, the revival of the monastery began. On July 31, 1991, the relics of St. Seraphim of Sarov were transferred to the Holy Diveevsky Monastery.

Holy Trinity Seraphim-Diveevo Monastery: photos and impressions of the visit

Village Diveevo

So, we arrived in Diveevo. The village itself, whose population is about 6.5 thousand people, seems to be all about pilgrims. Near the monastery there were traders, or rather, traders, selling what the pilgrim needed. Scarves and skirts are sold - in the Seraphim-Diveevo Monastery this is strict, women must wear a skirt/dress and cover their heads.

Problem with parking near the monastery

There is parking near the monastery. However, to our disappointment, there was a sign there that there was no room. Considering that I was driving a huge Mitsubishi L-200, this was somewhat disappointing. However, as it turned out, there were still places - our friends, who were driving the second car, parked calmly. It turned out that there were no places only for those who came overnight. But seeing the sign, it somehow didn’t occur to me to ask whether there were parking spaces or not. Having driven several circles around Diveevo and not finding any free ones (it was Saturday of Easter week, so there were a lot of people), I ended up parking the car with local residents near the house, right opposite the monastery. All the fun is 100 rubles. True, they helped us turn around in a bottleneck.

How to obtain permission to take photographs?

Next we had to get permission to take photographs. I was sent to a pilgrimage center. There was a line to the open window. The second window was open, but there was no one near it. However, there sat a stern nun who did not bother to answer whether permission could be obtained. As a result, after standing in line, I received permission to take photographs, paying either 30 or 50 rubles. Along the way, it turned out that I could do the same thing on the territory of the monastery, where the requirements are filled out.

Building on the territory of the monastery

Cathedral of the Life-Giving Trinity and Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral in Diveevo

And here we are inside the monastery. In front of us are two huge cathedrals. The first one, green - Cathedral of the Life-Giving Trinity, built between 1848 and 1875 by Ton’s student A.I. Rezanov, who also took part in the construction in Moscow. In the Trinity Cathedral there is a shrine with the relics of Seraphim of Sarov.

A little further there is a beautiful white temple -. They began to build it even before the revolution, but did not have time to consecrate it. During the Soviet years it housed a shooting range, then a garage. It was completed in the 90s and consecrated on September 3, 1998. We were not able to see the Transfiguration Cathedral from the inside - it was closed for cleaning 🙁

There were many pilgrims and people inside the monastery - let me remind you, it was Saturday of Easter week.

We walked slowly to the side Holy Groove- one of the most famous places in Diveevo. But more on that below.

And now, finally, we are at the Holy Kanavka. Seraphim of Sarov spoke about her like this:

This groove is the piles of the Mother of God. Whoever walks the Kanavka with prayer and reads one and a half hundred “Mother of God”, everything is here: Mount Athos, Jerusalem, and Kyiv.

One hundred and fifty “Mother of God” is a prayer “Virgin Mother of God, Rejoice, Most Gracious Mary, the Lord is with You. Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb, for you have given birth to the Savior of our souls.”, which must be read 150 times.

There are a lot of people walking along the Holy Kanavka. Someone reads a prayer, fingering a rosary in his hands. Some walk barefoot, stop after each prayer and cross themselves. Others are just walking, looking around, talking to each other.

View of the monastery buildings

When I walked along the Holy Kanavka, I was struck by the contrast: inside it there were monastery buildings and the construction of a large cathedral. On the other side there are ordinary houses and vegetable gardens.

The sky was gloomy, soaring - a thunderstorm was approaching (but it still never arrived, only a few drops fell, that’s all). The crows croaked deafeningly—there are many of them in Diveevo.

We are gradually approaching the end of the Kanavka.

And here is a description of the Annunciation Cathedral, which will be built on the territory of the monastery:

Photos of Diveevo

Against the backdrop of a stormy sky, the snow-white Transfiguration Cathedral looks especially impressive:

And then the sun came out and the cathedrals began to shine.

Impressions from a trip to Diveevo

Then we went to have lunch in one of the refectories. Food: lean cabbage soup and pilaf with mushrooms, generously seasoned with sunflower oil. The refectory workers are laborers, pilgrims. Unfortunately, they have not heard of such a word as politeness at all. Maybe there were too many people and fatigue took its toll. But this does not excuse them at all - in one of the bowls of soup they found... a cockroach :)

After lunch, when all the members of our group gathered again, it turned out that 2-year-old Sophie, Galina’s daughter, was kicked out of the temple when they were standing in line to see the relics of Seraphim of Sarov. The little girl's fault was that she pulled the scarf off her head - it was too hot and the child's head was soaked through with sweat. The mother tried to put the scarf on the girl again, but the child pulled it off again and again. The temple worker rudely pushed them away.

I left Diveevo with mixed feelings. On the one hand, yes, of course, a strong place associated with the name of Seraphim of Sarov. A very beautiful monastery, there are magnificent places all around. On the other hand, there is the notorious human factor. Then we went to, and then to.

Excursions to Diveevo

You can go to Diveevo either independently or with a guided tour. Both options have their pros and cons. Most likely, if you go on a tour, you will avoid the problems that we encountered. The guide or accompanying person will take care of all organizational aspects.

Excursions to Diveevo with departure from Moscow

Excursions to Diveevo with departure from Nizhny Novgorod

Where to stay in Diveevo

It is better to go to Diveevo for at least two days, so as not to rush anywhere. I think then the trip will give a completely different feeling. The Diveyevo Monastery is very beautiful in the evening illumination. It's worth going to the service. There are many places in Diveevo where you can spend the night, both in very modest and luxurious hotels. Prices start at about 1000 rubles, you can find cheaper ones. See the selection of hotels and apartments in Diveevo on Booking.com.

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Holy Trinity Seraphim-Diveevsky Monastery on the map

Coordinates: 55°2’26″N 43°14’44″E

October 29th, 2013

Original taken from pamsik in Diveevo. Canal of the Blessed Virgin Mary

From the story "Diveevo - Russian Promised Land."
It’s difficult to write about Diveevo. Before traveling here, I read different reviews about it and was always surprised by their ascetic style of storytelling. I love, and I myself have a penchant for, flowery presentation, for details and details, and such stinginess of words and feelings puzzled me. But now, having returned from this truly wondrous place, I myself don’t know where to start, or how to write about what we saw and felt there - it’s very difficult to find the right words. I'll try.
Diveevo is a special land. This is a special piece of our planet where a person has the opportunity to cleanse his soul.
Diveevo is not just beautiful nature and a beautiful monastery. Diveevo is a very energetically strong place that strips the soul of everything unnecessary.

About the monastery: Our impressions. Our Lady's Groove.

The Seraphim-Diveevo Monastery itself occupies a fairly large area, but even that seems to be small - there are a lot of pilgrims and people who come here. In the monastery fence from Oktyabrskaya Street there are several entrances to the monastery. Quite by accident we went the right way - through the Bell Tower. Correct - because it turns out more solemnly, not just jump out somewhere to the side into the territory, namely go through the bell tower arch, see Trinity Cathedral light green through openwork cast-iron gates, a large paved area, bright flower beds, behind them a majestic Transfiguration Cathedral of boiling white color, almost a copy of the first one, only with more rounded shapes. The domes on this cathedral and bell tower do not just glow with gold, but shine dazzlingly, like full-fledged additional suns to the main luminary. There is a lot of gold in the sky. It's very beautiful.

On the territory of the monastery, for some reason it was clearly felt that Trinity Cathedral (where the relics of St. Seraphim of Sarov are located) is masculine, and Transfiguration Cathedral is feminine. Although, in reality, of course, there is no such division. Maybe it seems so based on their appearance: Troitsky is tall, slightly angular, green, steel-gray domes, and Preobrazhensky is slender, soft, whiter than snow and golden domes.

Diveevo. Trinity and Transfiguration Cathedrals

Diveevo. Trinity Cathedral

We went to the Trinity Cathedral. There was a service going on and there were a lot of people inside, so we stood around for a while, went out and began to walk around it. I saw a large queue on the left. She stood near the relics of St. Seraphim of Sarov, to which there is a separate entrance.. We didn't stand. I don’t know how to honestly explain why, let’s put it this way: we felt we had no right to contact him in the state we were in then. Of course, it’s very disappointing that things turned out so ridiculously for us. But on the other hand, his invisible presence in Diveevo is almost tangible. They say that nuns often meet the gray-bearded old man at the Holy Kanavka, and builders saw him in the temple, and children, whom he especially loved, often tell their parents about the kind grandfather who talked to them. In the Trinity Cathedral you can also see some things that belonged to Father Seraphim: a mantle, a pectoral cross, an epitrachelion, leather gloves, shoes and a cast iron pot. This cathedral also houses Father Seraphim’s favorite icon, “The Mother of God of Tenderness.”

We walk around the territory, look closely, get our bearings, listen to the numerous guides leading groups. It is very interesting to listen, especially since we are not in a hurry, unlike tour groups, so we listen to several guides talk about the same thing, but in different ways. Behind the Trinity Cathedral there is a small necropolis. Here the abbess, several blessed elders from the monastery, and monks found their last refuge. We have never seen anything like this. I'll tell you about them below. The graves - velvety green mounds all covered in flowers - are considered holy places. People come here specifically to mentally communicate with the blessed ones and ask for their help.

Next we go to the Transfiguration Cathedral. There is also a queue inside to venerate the relics of the three blessed Diveyevo(I’ll also tell you about them separately). Here in the cathedral I learn about holy oil, about crackers from the saint’s cast iron, and about earth from the Kanavka (details will be below, I don’t want to get distracted now). But we have no time for that now. We leave the Cathedral and ask where Kanavka is. It starts right behind the Transfiguration Cathedral, a little to the right, and also ends approximately behind him, but to the left.

I prepared for it in advance. You can, of course, walk along Kanavka just like that, but I doubt that it will be possible. This is a very sacred and strong place, and when you go behind the forged gate, where it begins, and you step onto this high path on the crest of the shaft, and below you there is a high slope and a narrow ditch, it’s like moving from gravity to the absence of gravity. There is a completely different air here, even a completely different direction of thought - the old remains behind the gate.

Beginning of the Groove of the Blessed Virgin Mary

You must pass the Holy Canal while reading a prayer to the Most Holy Theotokos or the Archangel's greeting(with these words Archangel Gabriel greeted the Virgin Mary at the Annunciation): “Virgin Mother of God, Rejoice, Gracious Mary, the Lord is with You; Blessed are you among wives and blessed is the fruit of your womb, for you have given birth to the Savior of our souls.” Father Seraphim said this: “This groove is the piles of the Mother of God. Whoever walks the Kanavka with prayer and reads one and a half hundred “Mother of God”, everything is here: Mount Athos, Jerusalem, and Kyiv.”

Groove. We are starting our journey

I have rosary beads in my hands, however, I admit, they are Buddhist, souvenirs and there are 108 pea beads in them, and the prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary must be read 150 times, so at home I marked the required bead with a red ribbon. Rosary beads are very convenient to use; they are needed in order not to lose count. The people who walk along the Kanavka are, of course, all very different, and some are very, very unique. When someone loudly chants a prayer out loud, it is, of course, inconvenient, but tolerable, but there is also a bulletproof contingent in front of you casually and selflessly discussing “Nadya’s behavior with Lenka” - this is beyond my understanding.

Groove

The groove is very long, it has a broken trajectory, it is curved in different ways, surrounded by flowers. In the spring here on the slopes (I see) lilies of the valley bloom, in the summer - various flowers, there are even very well-groomed vegetable gardens along it.

Almost finished

Walking around Kanavka, we saw a huge tree not far behind the monastery fence, which was decorated with something and caught our attention. Then we went there. It turned out - This huge larch of Tsarevich Alexei. This tree was planted in honor of the first anniversary of the birth of the Tsarevich - that is, in 1905. When cut, the bark of this larch has the color of dried blood, and so does the resin. No other similar trees have been found in nature. It is fenced with a small fence, there is a stand next to it, and his photograph hangs. Icons of the royal family are hung on the larch and fence, and prayer services are served.

Larch of Tsarevich Alexei

Favorite icon of Seraphim of Sarov.

This is the Mother of God “Tenderness”.

Father Seraphim always prayed before this image and died on his knees.

The Mother of God is depicted without the baby Jesus, with her arms crossed on her chest and a gentle, barely noticeable smile. This icon depicts the moment of the Annunciation, when the Blessed Virgin answers the Archangel Gabriel to the news of the future birth of her son: “Behold the servant of the Lord, wake me according to your word.” Seraphim of Sarov loved this image very much and called it “Joy of all joys.” Nicholas II presented for this icon a very rich golden robe, decorated with jewelry - a halo, in the form of shining rays, consists of precious stones and pearls. When the sun's rays fall on the icon, it shines in an unusual way: the face of the Mother of God became alive, the colors became delicate, and the decorations painted in oil were difficult to distinguish from real precious stones. Many copies were made from the icon, some of them also became miraculous. The list now hangs in the Trinity Cathedral in Diveevo, and the original is in Moscow, in the Patriarchate.

Father Seraphim left a commandment for the sisters of the monastery - on Sundays to perform a special prayer singing to the Most Holy Theotokos according to the charter of Mount Athos - Paraklis. “And if you fulfill this commandment of mine, then everything will be fine with you, and the Queen of Heaven will not leave you. If you don’t do it, then you will get into trouble without trouble.” This commandment is holyly fulfilled in the monastery.

What to bring from Diveevo.

Icons, of course.
And also butter and crackers of St. Seraphim, and earth from the Holy Canal.
The bags for them are small transparent ones - I highly recommend taking them with you. Otherwise, you will stand in a long line for them at the church shop at the entrance (narthex) to the Transfiguration Cathedral, and they may not be there yet. Oil bottles are also sold here. Opposite this bench there is a window where they will pour you butter consecrated on the relics of St. Seraphim, as well as on the relics of the blessed saints - the Diveyevo mothers.
Rusks (a handful) will be poured into a bag for you in the log chapel named after Father Seraphim(where the Holy Canal ends) - in the summer, or in the vestibule of the Preobrazhensky Sobo ra (where oil is poured) - in winter. It is believed that you need to literally drop a drop of this oil into a bottle of regular oil, and the entire oil will acquire beneficial properties.

Crackers - small pieces of rye bread. When I stood behind them in line at the chapel, I read on the wooden board that “in the Diveyevo Monastery, after the death of the great elder, a tradition arose of distributing crackers in memory of the saint and as his blessing. Father Seraphim gave crackers to many who came to him as a blessing - some a handful, and some a large load. Nowadays, these crackers are blessed in the cast iron of Father Seraphim, in which the elder prepared meager food for himself, and then gave it to the Diveyevo sisters for church needs (coal was stored in it in the altar). Many pilgrims take these crackers to different countries and then write about miraculous healings and unusual cases associated with them.” The nun gives out the crackers for free, but you can leave your reward of any size in the donation box nearby.

The chapel where crackers are distributed. And the crackers themselves from Diveevo

Land from the Holy Canal has the power to cleanse “premises and territory from demons.” A very small part of this earth can be mixed with river sand or ordinary clean earth in any proportion, and this mixture will be beneficial and retain all the properties of the earth from the Holy Kanavka. A whole mound of this earthen soil is located behind the chapel where crackers are distributed. This is the place where the very first monastery Mill used to stand. In the monastery they ask you to take a handful of it, no more, so that everyone gets it.
Here in the monastery they also sell a unique book “ Chronicle of the Seraphim-Diveevsky Monastery" Its author is Metropolitan Seraphim (Chichagov). We saw it, but didn't buy it because we didn't know anything about it. Only later did we read about Diveevo in books.

About the Diveyevo mothers.

When we entered the Nativity and Transfiguration Cathedrals, there were always queues inside them to see the relics of the blessed women of Diveyevo, and behind the first cathedral in the necropolis, guides lead groups to green velvet mounds and also tell about them. Who is this? It turns out that several blessed old women chose Diveevo as their place. Father Seraphim welcomed them with all his heart.

The Blessed are special people. Bliss is very difficult to explain in words to a materialistic person, because it is not an innate quality, but an acquired one. In the books they write that this is “one of the most difficult feats of Christianity,” that holy fools are “people who seemed to be deprived of reason.” For what? - To overcome pride, so that, speaking in allegorical language, to have a stronger impact on people whom ordinary words pass by.

But this is not a completely clear explanation: it turns out that any acting or any extravagance can also be called bliss. And this is a wrong understanding.
The blessed are half-asleep people. You and I also sleep and dream, and we know that a dream is always a different, different reality. This border is especially clearly felt when we wake up - where are we - there or here? Blessed people are more There than Here. But their other reality is always bright. There - they see God very closely. There - they talk with God, and not with dark entities. That's why they are clairvoyant, that's why they say the right things, although at the same time they behave differently - they play with dolls, imitate, talk figuratively, and there may also be snot, dirt, rags, i.e. the whole set that scares ordinary people and inspires (can inspire) fear, contempt, disgust. But the blessed do not care about the artificial rules of our everyday life. They are bright people, they are adult children. But we, ordinary normal people, having both a sober mind and a sound memory, being in this reality and speaking beautiful words, often do terrible things.

Here is another interesting understanding of bliss: “ At some point in Rus' they began to believe that a holy fool is an intelligent person pretending to be a fool. Humility of a proud mind may be a very great feat, but still, first of all, it is just a pretense. Real foolishness is by no means a pretense, not an imitation of stupidity, but genuine stupidity. Which, however, does not at all negate genuine intelligence. You simply fall into a state when the ordinary mind (the ability to navigate the conventions of the world) suddenly flies away, and something else comes in its place: wisdom, which no longer cares about stupid conventions».

And another strange thought came to mind (Diveevo, after all): the blessed are surprised people. Surprised by God.

In the necropolis (behind the Nativity Cathedral), in addition to other clergy, the blessed ones are buried - Pelagia(in the center), Paraskeva(right), Natalia(left).
Blessed Pelagia(Pelagia Ivanovna Serebryannikova, lived in the monastery until 1884) - “mad Palaga”, “fool” for some people and “great lamp of light”, “spiritual mother”, “second Seraphim” for the priest himself and others. She was married, gave birth to children, but her soul yearned for something else. Father Seraphim loved her very much. When Pelageya and her husband arrived in Sarov (in 1828), Seraphim talked with her for six hours alone. Seeing her off, he publicly bowed to the ground and told her to quickly go to the Diveyevo monastery.
Blessed Paraskeva - Pasha of Sarov(Paraskeva Ivanovna, lived in the monastery until 1915) - “the third Seraphim.” She had a very difficult fate. She is a serf. The landowner found fault with her, lied about her alleged “theft,” and gave her, an honest wife, to drunken soldiers. Paraskeva then went to the Kyiv Lavra and there accepted the schema, which is practically inaccessible for women. She lived in the forest for 30 years, there she was a beggar, she was also robbed by robbers, just like Saint Seraphim, and in addition they cut off her ear. She came to Diveevo, to the monastery and stayed here. Blessed Pasha lived in a small house-cell, which he called a “hermitage.” She played with dolls; behind her changeable moods, allegorical conversations and actions, the highest love, humility and compassion were hidden. A line of people flowed towards her. She welcomed everyone and did not single out anyone by rank, regalia, or titles. Only the blessed can do this. Nicholas II and his wife came to see her. And Pasha predicted everything to him: the revolution, the death of the dynasty... She even showed a boy’s doll and said: “This is yours.” But the Empress showed a misunderstanding: I don’t believe it. Then the blessed one handed her a piece of calico: “This is for your little son’s pants. When he is born, you will believe it.”
Here on the territory of the monastery there is her blue house, that very “hermitage”, and now it houses her museum and pilgrimage center.
Blessed Natalia(Natalya Dmitrievna, lived in the monastery until 1900). She also had the gift of advice.

Strange as it may sound, in Soviet times, at the site of their burial there was ... a beer stall. There, among the local drunks, these blessed old women, Pelageya, Pasha and Maria, often appeared and sat on a bench, whose place was trampled upon by the stall. The stallkeeper was especially embarrassed at the sight of these three blessed old women who had come from nowhere.

Entrance to the Transfiguration Cathedral

Where to eat in Diveevo.

…You can have a snack on the territory of the monastery. There, firstly, there is a large refectory. We even read somewhere that it is free for pilgrims. Then there there are several stalls selling very tasty monastery pies. And there's more There are tiny pancake cafes called “Monastery Refectory”. But there are much more people there, especially at lunchtime, than there are pancakes themselves. Therefore, you need to either be patient and stand in line, or go somewhere for a more substantial snack.

There are delicious pancakes here

We got to the pancake shop successfully; there were no people there, because the girls had gone for a new portion of pancakes. We waited only 5 minutes, there was already a tail behind us, and the pancakes somehow arrived quickly. Very tasty, with different fillings, but unusual. The dough is apparently short, so it’s a little rubbery.

Continuation in the story “Diveevo - Russian Promised Land»